Construction of coil blocks



Feb. 14, 1961 R. E. JONES 2,971,721

CONSTRUCTION OF COIL BLOCKS Filed June 26, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' Feb. 14, 1961 R. E. JONES CONSTRUCTION OF COIL BLOCKS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 26, 195'? m E mm L r p a m Feb. 14, 1961 R. E. JQNES 2,971,721

CONSTRUCTION OF COIL BLOCKS Filed June 26, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR @554;- A-pnawo Man 5.5

United States Patent fifice 2,971,721 Patented Feb. 14, 1961 2,971,721 CONSTRUCTION OF COIL BLOCKS Robert Edward Jones, Oneida County, N.Y., assignor to Rome Cable Corporation, Rome, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 26, 19-57, Ser. No. 668,190 11 Claims. (Cl. 242110.2)

This invention relates to a coil block having a surface around which a length of wire may be formed into a coil and the diameter of which may be reduced to facilitate removal of the coil.

An object of the invention is to provide a coil block of improved structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coil block the coil forming surface of which is adjustable in diameter, to facilitate removal of the formed coil.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coil block the width of which is adjustable for forming coils of various widths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coil block having a coil forming surface the diameter of which is automatically expanded when the device is assembled and is automatically collapsed, when its front flange is moved from its assembled position, to facilitate the removal of a formed coil.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coil block which is flexible in operation to accommodate a variety of wire sizes and types and put ups and to form coils of various widths thereby effecting a substantial saving in the number of coil blocks, and a saving in time of production by eliminating changing of the blocks as has heretofore been necessary when a change in the width of coils is desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical and eifective device of the above described kind.

The invention will best be understood if the following description is read in connection with the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view partly in vertical section of a device embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is an exploded View showing in perspective the structure illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the structure of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3a is a detail view of a hook which may be inserted through a slot in an end flange of the coil block to support a coil while the surface on which it has been formed is being collapsed, and

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 1 with the front flange and cam assembly, comprising members 36 and 37, removed.

In the embodiment of the invention disclosed herein a spool or winder of known construction is indicated by the numeral 10. Projecting outwardly from It) is an arbor comprising the portions 12 and 14, the portion 12 having at its outer end the annular flange 12a. Abutting against flange 12a. and extending around and upwardly from the arbor portion 14 is the positioning member 16, and on arbor 14 the sleeve 18 is mounted with its inner end abutting against member 16. Extending around and upwardly from the inner end of sleeve 18 is the flange 20, which may be a ring-like member welded onto sleeve 18, and is in face to face contact with member 16 and secured to member 16 as by the bolt 22 and the nut 24.

Projecting radially from the sleeve 18 and welded to it as indicated at w is the annular flange or hub member 26 which as shown herein has the shape of a Greek cross. From member 26 projects outwardly a rectangular frame assembly, to be described, on which four arcuate members or barrel sections 28 are mounted around the anbor axis as a common center in such a way that they may be moved apart radially to an expanded position, in which they provide a discontinuous surface around which a length of wire may be Wound to form a coil, or collapsed radially thus reducing the diameter of the surface and facilitating the removal of a coil formed around the said surface while in its expanded condition.

A front annular flange 30 is provided which may be readily slid on and off the front end of arbor 14. As shown herein flange 30 is mounted on the short sleeve 37a adapted to fit on the arbor in front of sleeve 18. The cup-shaped locking cap 32 is adapted to fit against the outer end of arbor 14 and may be held against the end of arbor 14 by the screw 34 which may be inserted through the end wall of the cap and screwed into the interiorly threaded bore 36 in the end of arbor 14. Cap 32 may be readily secured in place to lock sleeve 37a and its flange 34 on the arbor or removed to permit the sleeve 37:: and its flange 30 to be moved along or off the arbor.

Against the inner surface of flange 30 is a member 37, more or less in the shape of a Greek cross, from which the cam surfaces 38 project inwardly to engage the similarly inclined front ends of the ribs 29 which project inwardly from each of the arcuate surface members 28. As member 37 is moved along shaft 14 inward to assembled position cam surfaces 38 contact the inclined edges 29a of ribs 29 and spread the members 28 apart to their operative position for forming a coil of wire. When member 37 is moved outwardly of sleeve 18 out of contact with ribs 29 the members 28 move inwardly toward a common center, urged by means to be described, thus reducing the diameter of the surface defined by the armate members 28 and thus facilitating the removal of a coil which has been formed around said surfaces while they are in their expanded position.

Member 37 is desirably integral with, or interlocked to, the front fiange 30 and movable with it. As shown herein in Fig. 2, member 37 has a central hub 37a adapted to fit within the center opening of front flange member 30, and to slide onto the outer end of arbor 14 in front of sleeve 18. Members 30 and 37 are secured together by screws inserted through the holes a in 30 and the registering holes b in 37.

Extending through member 37 adjacent the outer periphery of hub 37a is a keyway 39 and opening from the central aperture in front flange 30 is the keyway 39a in axial alignment with keyway 39. These keyways and the keyway 43 in front hub 42 are all engaged by the key 19 on rear flange or hub 18.

Each arcuate member 28 has at its inner end an abutment member 31 which is segmental in form and projects both inwardly and outwardly from the arcuate member. The under portions of members 31 respectively overlap the four projecting arms of the rear flange or hub 26 and move in and out radially over the inner surfaces of said arms as the arcuate members 28 move in or out radially toward or away from a common center which, in the embodiment of the invention illustrated herein, is the axis of the arbor 14. The portions of members 31 are in effect extensions of the four arms of the rear flange or hub 26.

Members 28 are supported on a framework which comprises the four angle members 49 extending from the rear flange or hub 26 to front hub 42 which has a central aperture for assembly on sleeve 18 and the keyway 43 opening therefrom to engage the key 19 on sleeve 18.

The front hub 42 has also the general shape of a Greek cross. Its arms are the same width as those of rear vided in each of the flanges 29, two of which extend inwardly from each arcuate member 28 in spaced relation. Extending between the flanges 29 of each arcuate member, with its ends received in the holes I2 of said flanges respectively, are the pins p. T he springs s extend between pins p of two members 28 which are disposed apart 180, and springs s extend at right angles to springs s between the pins 1 of the other two arcuate members 28. From this description and the drawings it will be clear that the springs s exert a force tending to draw together one opposed pair of members 23 and the springs s tend to draw together the other pair of members 28, the action being such that when not opposed by a countering force the four members 28 will be drawn toward a common center of their innermost or collapsed position.

The members are pivotally connected to the frame angle members 40 by the links 44 each of which is pivotally joined at one end to one of the two legs of a frame angle member 40 by a pivot 46, and pivotally joined at its other end by a pivot 47 to one of the ribs 29 carried on the inner surface of said arcuate member 28. As shown herein each leg of each angle member 40 is pivotally connected by two links 44 to a flange 2% of an arcuate member 28. The pivots 47 connecting the links to ribs 29a respectively received in the apertures k and 11 of said ribs respectively and the pivots 46 connecting the links to a leg of said frame angle members are received in the apertures 43 in the legs of said angle members.

Mounted radially outwardly of the arcuate surfaces 28 for movement toward and away from the radially rnovable segmental flange extension members 31 respectively are the traverse adjusting members 50, see Figs. 1 and 2, which acting together serve as a movable end flange. The members 59 are adjusted in position toward and away from the members 31 by the spacing members 52. Several sets of spacing members 52 of different lengths are provided so that members 50 can be moved various distances from the members 31 respectively thus adjusting the effective length of the coil block for moving coils of various widths. The spacing members 52 are tubular and are held in position by pins 54 which are inserted into the tubular members 52 through the members 31 and the collars 56, which are fixed on the inner surface of members 31 in any suitable way, and are pro vided with the thumb screws 58 which are turned down to frictionally engage the pins 54 and hold them in position to support the spacing members 52. As best seen in Fig. 2 each abutment member 31 is provided with three apertures 60 for the passage of pins 54 which engage and hold in place the spacing members 52. As shown herein the apertures 69 are disposed in a circular pattern, extending around the axis of the arbor 14.

As best seen in Figs. 2 and 3, the front flange is slotted inwardly from its periphery with the three slots 62 through which a binding cord or wire may be introduced under the turns 1 of a coil formed by winding a wire over and around the four angularly spaced arcuate surfaces 28 for tieing the completed coil and preventing it from uncoiling, and a wider slot 64 is provided through which a hook 66 may be inserted to engage the inner periphery of a formed coil, and lift the coil to facilitate moving it off the surfaces 28 and out of the coil block after the assembly of front flange 30 and member 37 has been moved away from the members 28 and has been removed from thearbor 14 by unscrewing screw 34 and removing the locking cap 32 from the outer end of arbor 14.

Ribs 68 in the form of angle members are shown fastened to the outer surface of outer flange member 35 to give strength and rigidity to member 30.

The collapsible coil block described herein has the advantages that, assembly of the block is made by simply mounting on the front end of arbor 14 the sub-assemlby comprising members 39 and 37, sliding it into operative position against the outer ends of members 28 and fastening the locking cap 32 against the outer ends of arbor 14 by means of screw 34; removal of the coil may be accomplished by inserting a special hoist hook on through slot 64- in member 39 to engage the inner periphery of the coil while the arcuate surfaces 28 are spaced apart radially in expanded position and then moving the coil off the free end of the arbor after the locking cap and the members 30 and 37 have been removed.

A number of different sized coils can be formed on the same block by varying the position of the traverse adjusting members 56 and thereby changing the width of the coil. A substantial saving is thus effected in the number of coil blocks which are required since any one coil block may be used to form coils of various width, thus accommodating itself to a variety of wire sizes and types and put ups, and a further substantial saving in time of production is realized from not having to change coil blocks to make coils of different widths.

In some of the claims the fixed annular flange 25 is referred to as a first abutment, the front movable flange 30 is referred to as a second abutment, and the members 31 which are at the inner ends of the arcuate surfaces 28 are referred to as third abutment members. As noted above the third abutment members are in effect extensions of the four arms comprising the first abutment.

An advantage of the structure disclosed herein is that it forms coils having a perfectly defined circular inside diameter.

There has thus been provided a coil block assembly in which the above stated objects are attained with many practical advantages.

What I claim is:

1. A coil block comprising an arbor, a fixed end flange and a movable end flange mounted on the arbor in spaced relation, a multi-part support surface for a coil, each support surface part having an abutment projecting at right angles both inwardly and outwardly from said part at the end thereof adjacent the fixed end flange, and means for supporting the support surface parts respectively, with their abutment members partially overlying the fixed flange, traverse members extending radially outwardly from the respective parts of the support surface, and means for adjusting the position of said traverse members between said movable flange and said abutment members respectively to vary the width of coils of wire formed around the support surface without changing the position of either of said flanges.

2. A coil block comprising an arbor, a fixed flange and a flange movable axially of the arbor, mounted on the arbor in spaced relation, a multi-part support surface for a coil, and means for supporting the support surface parts respectively for movement toward and away from said means, means normally urging the support surface parts to decrease the diameter of the support surface which they define and means operative while the device is fully assembled to hold the support surface parts in fixed relation to one another and to the means by which they are supported, traverse members extending radially outwardly from the respective parts of the support surface, and means for adjusting the position of said traverse members between said flanges to vary the width of coils of wire formed around the support surface without changing the position of either of said flanges.

3. A coil block comprising an arbor, a fixed flange and a flange movable axially along the arbor toward and away from the fixed flange, a support frame extending around the arbor and part way from the fixed flange to the position of the movable flange when it is in assembled position, a multi-part support surface for a coil, and swinging arms pivotally interconnected between different surfaces of the support frame and the parts of said support surface respectively, means tending to draw the parts of said support surface toward the arbor as a common center, means for maintaining the parts of said support surface separated radially from the arbor when the device is fully assembled, each-of said support surface parts having at its end which is adjacent the fixed flange an angularly disposed flange which in the assembled structure overlaps a portion of the fixed flange and projects radially beyond it, traverse members for adjusting the coil forming space, and means for supporting and adjusting the position of said traverse members axially of the arbor comprising rods projecting through the flange portions of the support surface parts respectively.

4. The device claimed in claim 3 in which said fixed flange and said axially movable flange project radially from separate sleeves which are adapted for mounting on said arbor, and means are provided for fixedly mounting one of said sleeves on the arbor and for demountably mounting the other of said sleeves on the arbor.

5. The device claimed in claim 3 in which the support surface comprises four barrel sections, the support frame is rectangular, and each barrel section is connected to one face of the rectangular frame by swinging arm means pivoted at one end to the barrel section and at the other end to the face of the support frame, and resilient means is provided between oppositely opposed barrel sections tending to swing them both axially of the arbor and inwardly toward one another, said movable flange acting to prevent the said movement of opposed barrel sections when it is in assembled position.

6. A coil block defining a surface of an adjustable width and diameter around which to wind a wire coil, comprising an arbor, a number of support surface parts movable radially of the arbor, between a position in which they define a support surface of maximum diameter to a position in which they define a support surface of minimum diameter, traverse members movable radially of the arbor with the support surface parts respectively, and movable axially with respect to the arbor and the support surface to control the width of the support surface, a first and fixed abutment adjacent one end of the support surface, a second abutment adjacent the other end of said support surface and movable away from the support surface, said traverse members being movable between said abutment members.

7. A coil block defining a surface of an adjustable width and diameter around which to wind a wire coil, comprising an arbor, a number of support surface parts movable radially of the arbor, between a position in which they define a support surface of maximum diameter to a position in which they define a support surface of minimum diameter, traverse members movable radially of the arbor with the support surface parts respectively, and movable axially with respect to the arbor and the support surface to control the width of the support surface, a first and fixed abutment adjacent one end of the support surface, a second abutment adjacent the other end of said support surface movable away from the support surface, and third abutment means divided into portions carried by said support surface parts respectively and forming radial extensions of the said fixed abutment, and means for adjusting the position of the traverse members between said second abutment means on the one hand and the first and third abutment means on the other hand.

8. A coil block defining a surface of an adjustable width and diameter around which to wind a wire coil, comprising an arbor, a number of support surface parts movable radially of the arbor, between a position in which they define a support surface of maximum diameter to a position in which they define a support surface of minimum diameter, traverse members movable radially of the arbor with the support surface parts respectively, and movable axially with respect to the arbor and the support surface to control the width of the support surface, a first and fixed abutment adjacent one end of the support surface, a second abutment adjacent the other end of said support surface, movable away from the support surface, and means for adjusting the position of the traverse members between said first and second abutment means, resilient means urging the support surface parts to their position for defining a surface of minimum diameter, and means acting to position the said parts to define a surface of maximum diameter when said second abutment is in assembled position.

9. A coil block comprising an arbor, a fixed flange and a demountable flange movable axially of the arbor mounted on the arbor in spaced relation, a multi-part support surface for a coil, a support frame mounted on the arbor between said flanges, and means comprising a plurality of swinging arms pivotally interconnected between the frame and the parts of said support surface respectively, said swinging arms being responsive to movement of said demountable flange, the parts of said support surface defining inclined cam surfaces and the demountable flange carrying on its inner surfaces cam means adapted to engage said cam surfaces and to move the parts of said support surface outwardly as the-demountable flange is moved into assembled position.

10. A coil block comprising an arbor, a fixed flange and a demountable flange movable axially of the arbor mounted on the arbor in spaced relation, a multi-part support surface for a coil, a support frame mounted on the arbor between said flanges, means comprising a plurality of swinging arms pivotally interconnected between the frame and the parts of said support surface respectively, said swinging arms being responsive to movement of said demountable flange, including traverse members supported between said flanges and extending radially outwardly from the parts of the support surface respec tively, and means for adjusting the position of said traverse members between the flanges to vary the width of coils of wire formed around said surface and without changing the position of either of said flanges.

11. A coil block comprising an arbor, a fixed flange and a demountable flange movable axially of the arbor mounted on the arbor in spaced relation, a multi-part support surface for a coil comprising a plurality of parallel parts, a support frame fixedly mounted on the arbor between said flanges, interconnecting means between the frame and the support surface parts respectively and movable to vary the diameter of the support surface while maintaining its parts in parallel relation, resilient means disposed diametrically of the coil support surface and acting on the said interconnecting means to move the support surface parts in a direction to reduce the diameter of the support surface, said demountable flange having means thereon coactive with the support surface for overcoming the force of said resilient means when the flange is in its assembled position and for moving said interconnecting means in a direction to increase the diameter of the support surface to its maximum diameter and to hold it in said position until the demountable flange is moved from its assembled position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

